Increased choroidal thickness: a new feature to monitor age-related macular degeneration recurrence.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study was to assess choroidal thickness (CT) changes during an exudative recurrence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: A real-life prospective non-interventional 9-month study was conducted in two centers in consecutive patients with exudative AMD between November 2016 and July 2017. CT was measured manually in both eyes based on enhanced-depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography at different follow-up visits scheduled in the morning. RESULTS: A total of 134 patients were included. Ninety-five patients presented at least one episode, defined by a follow-up visit under controlled condition (dry retina) followed by a visit for exudative recurrence. A total of 119 episodes were analyzed. The mean CT change in the treated eye was + 8.45 ± 13.52 µm (p < 0.001) and + 5.62 ± 14.77 µm (p = 0.009) respectively in the subfoveal area and nasal area. No significant change in CT was observed in the fellow eye. No significant association between CT changes and treatment, number of intravitreal injections, and blood pressure was observed. CONCLUSION: CT increased in case of exudative recurrence of neovascular AMD. The increase was mild but significant. Thus, CT could be used as a monitoring criterion, like the central retinal thickness, in AMD management.

Increased choroidal thickness: a new indicator for monitoring diabetic macular oedema recurrence.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether choroidal thickness (CT) increases at the time of exudative recurrence in diabetic patients with unilateral diabetic macular oedema (DME) treated with intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF or dexamethasone. METHODS: A real-life, prospective, two-centre study was conducted over a 9-month period investigating diabetic patients presenting with unilateral DME treated with anti-VEGF or dexamethasone intravitreal injections, and CT was measured manually, using the enhanced depth imaging module of the spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Choroidal thickness (CT) was measured in the morning, in both the affected and healthy eye of each patient at two timepoints: when the macula was 'dry' (T0) and at the time of exudative recurrence (T1). RESULTS: A total of 51 patients with unilateral DME were included. Mean CT in the affected eye was significantly thicker at the time of exudative recurrence (210.8 ± 44.1 µm at T0 versus 238.0 ± 49.0 µm at T1, p < 0.001). There was no significant variation in CT in the fellow eye (214.4 ± 52.3 µm at T0 versus 218.9 ± 53.4 µm at T1, p = 0.53). The type of intravitreal injection, the number of injections and the CT at T0 had no influence on the change in CT. CONCLUSION: This study found that CT increased significantly in the affected eye at the time of recurrence of DME treated with anti-VEGF or dexamethasone injections. Choroidal thickness (CT) could constitute an interesting new indicator for monitoring patients with DME.